The National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), also known as the Nazi Party, was a German political party. It was started in 1920 from the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers' party) (DAP).[5] which would later be renamed NSDAP. On the day of its founding, the party published its 25 point manifesto (book of ideas). The items in this list of ideas included getting rid of the Treaty of Versailles, gaining more land for the German people, confiscating any income not earned through working, taking away citizenship from Jewish people, reforming the education system, enacting freedom of religion except for religions that weakened the German nation, and setting up a strong central German government.[5] Until 1923, the party was most popular in Bavaria.

In 1924, Hitler was released early from prison. He restarted the NSDAP. He wanted to gain power legally by elections. The next elections to the Reichstag were in 1928. Until then, the NSDAP was only one of a few nationalist, parties from the extreme right. There were many other parties with similar ideas then. Among people supporting the party were Fritz Thyssen and Emil Kirdorf, both leaders of big industries.

In the 1928 election, the party won 2.6 percent of the vote. The party decided to reduce antisemitic slogans, in order to do better next time. The party focused on terrorising the people, as well as more on international policy, and got around 10 % of the vote in local elections in 1929 and 1930.

In 1930, President Paul von Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag. This was seen as an opportunity for the NSDAP. In the elections on September 14, 1930, the NSDAP won 18.3% of the vote, and was the second biggest party. What people wanted was to put away with the Weimar RepublicWeimarer Republik. Weimar was the German city where the constitution for Germany was written after the First World War. People also wanted a stronger Germany with more troops. Germany was banned from having some types of weapons and ships by the Treaty of Versailles.

On the 30 January1933, Franz von Papen offered to make Adolf Hitler Chancellor in a nationalist cabinet. This was done in secret. This was a Machtübergabe or transfer of power but later the NSDAP started to call this event the Machtergreifung (seizing power), because it was better for Nazi propaganda to say that they came and took over from the Weimar Republic, instead of being made the legal government of the Weimar Republic.

In the last free election in Weimar Germany was in March 1933, the NSDAP won 44 % of the vote. This was not the majority. Nevertheless, they managed to get the required two thirds majority to pass the Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act). Based on this, they dissolved parliament, gave Hitler the power to do anything he wanted, and made all parties (except the NSDAP) illegal.

After this the NSDAP became very important. People had to be party members to get some jobs, or to get promoted. The NSDAP was busy until the surrender of Germany on 8 May1945.

But the Nazis did so many bad things that in Germany today it is illegal to display the Swastika symbol (on the flag above) or use slogans such as Sieg Heil. In November 2010, a British member of the European Parliament, Godfrey Bloom, was forced to leave the building. He had shouted the Nazi slogan, "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer", at a German member of the parliament.[6]